I believe Cersei had her last chance for at least some redemption in this episode and we saw how that went. I don't think you're going to get your wish, though I think it would be markedly out of character for Cersei to do anything commendable towards most of the remaining players

Ha! The series has already shown itself working overtime to start tying up loose ends and giving last calls (did anyone expect to see Hot Pie again?), so I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up. But to be honest, I completely forgot about him! Isn't he still in Meereen?

Another thing to consider is the deliberate invocation of slavery by cersei when negotiating with the iron bank. Braavos is founded on a fanatic anti slavery ethos, and she may have guaranteed they will not be on her side when she implies they profit off the slave trade.

jindianajonz wrote:But I fully agree with you- now that D&D have moved well beyond the books, they are unfortunately happy with letting the show coast on its own inertia towards a conclusion.

Surely Martin is at least still dictating the general direction of the storyline(s), given he's still working on the last 2 books in the series (why would he write something completely contrary to what's been done on the show)?

He provided the showrunners with his outline for the rest of the series, but the TV show was already its own thing in comparison to the books-- see Bronn's prominence in the show, for one. And a certain alleged Targaryen prominent in the books is nowhere to be found (not to mention an undead Stark...)

movielocke wrote:Another thing to consider is the deliberate invocation of slavery by cersei when negotiating with the iron bank. Braavos is founded on a fanatic anti slavery ethos, and she may have guaranteed they will not be on her side when she implies they profit off the slave trade.

The problem with that Iron Bank theory is that she immediately took out a new loan to pay for the Golden Company (Season 8). So, the IB still has a vested interest in seeing Cersei/Lannisters succeed. Shame, I like that theory as well.

Did she? I know she and what's his name from the Iron Bank exchanged pleasantries and promises to do business again, but couldn't Cersei just be assuming they'd back her play for the Golden Company based on misreading their interactions?

domino harvey wrote:Did she? I know she and what's his name from the Iron Bank exchanged pleasantries and promises to do business again, but couldn't Cersei just be assuming they'd back her play for the Golden Company based on misreading their interactions?

from the GOT Wiki (Yes, I know)

Now that the Lannisters' old debts will be mostly paid off, and the Iron Bank's faith in them somewhat reassured by their recent military victories, Cersei wants to take out new loans to strengthen her position in the war, so she can finish securing control over the rest of the continent. They discuss that Cersei wants to use the money to hire foreign Sellsword companies to bolster the depleted Lannister military ranks. Specifically, she reveals that she has had Qyburn make overtures to hire the best and largest private mercenary army in all of the Free Cities: the Golden Company. Tycho assures her that the Iron Bank will be delighted to help her with these future endeavors, once it receives the gold she is bringing them.

She does pay them with the gold acquisition from Highgarden. I think it is reasonable to assume the IB extended a new loan to Cersei to pay for the Golden Company in Season 8.

Maybe. If you follow the Reddit thread used as the source for the article above, a member breaks down Tycho's comments to show they're carefully worded to be non-committal to Cersei and in favor of supporting the winning side

The prequel series will consist entirely of Naomi Watts reading descriptions of food that GRRM has written. But seriously those are the sections I remember the most about the books.

In all honesty though there are hundred upon hundreds of years of history that took place well before the events of the the main books/show and frankly I'm now wondering if the show will be better or worse off because of it.

It's sort of like buying a stock when it's at its highest point - very strange move on Watts' part and any other high profile member(s) of the cast that join up - if Game of Thrones fatigue hasn't already begun to sink in for people, surely after the finale they'll feel as though they've had enough for a while. I predict this new series lasts a couple of years, tops, since it'll surely cost HBO a fortune